Sleek backyard office pod 3.6m x 3m anchored to slab in Canberra ACT

Backyard Pods normally have our foundation piers elevating the flooring structure above ground level. Where an existing slab is dry and suitable, some customers have successfully anchored the integrated flooring (for structural integrity) to their slab. Our customer in Canberra sat their Backyard Pod on a slab and it looks sleek in ‘Night Sky’ with black-framed window and sliding door. We love the sandstone paving.

It’s lovely to see when a customer produces a Backyard Pods project that looks stylish and sleek like this one. The basic Backyard Pod kit is your ‘blank canvas’. The choices of colours and finishes, the placement of windows and doors, whether or not to have eaves or a deck and veranda – all these decisions will determine how great your Backyard Pod looks when finished. If you’re working with one of the architects in our network on your drawings for submission to Council, many of these choices will be resolved in the process. The choices of colour we can help with too, although many customers know exactly what look they want.

There’s no question it’s great to have a little home office pod in your backyard, and Backyard Pods are world-famous as a low-cost, versatile home office building solution. We like the way our customer in Canberra has positioned the window at desk height for improved furniture placement options and a nice open outlook for anyone working.

Getting approval for a habitable home office room

Some people squeeze a home-office space into a small workshop environment that has been built without compliance as a ‘habitable room’. It wouldn’t be insurable to sleep in a garage or workshop, for example, so if your idea of a ‘home office’ includes a sofabed for overnight guests, you could get in strife even if your structure didn’t need approval in your area as a workshop-type building. Also, if your home office room is fully approved, it adds value to your home as extra livable space, whereas a shed that’s pretending to be an office (even if fitted out internally) is only considered a shed in any property sale or valuation.

Versatile foundation options for Backyard Pods

Our flatpack building kits can come with our foundation piers in either standard length (600mm). Our standard piers are perfect for relatively level sites. For sloping sites, longer lengths can be specified to suit the gradient. Other options include what they call ‘screw piers’ that can be adjusted on-site.

Smaller pods can be installed on our skids (instead of piers) for easy relocation. Backyard Pods on skids can be winched onto a flatbed truck and moved to another address. It’s important to note that having a movable building doesn’t avoid the requirement for building compliance where needed. Ask us for more information if that’s what you’re thinking.

Get installation to lock or completion, or DIY

Many of our customers successfully undertake home office projects as DIY builders. However, to be successful, you would need to have previous building experience and the appropriate tools. While our flatpack kits come with instructions and full engineering documentation, it’s not something anyone should attempt with insufficient knowledge.

In most areas, we can help with your installation to lock-up (usually just the basic shell with windows and doors, ready for interior fit-out) or completion (ready to occupy). Even if you’re going DIY and you get stuck, we’ve got an expert who can help you with practical advice.